Turbulance
by gregsanderslove
Summary: When a CSI from Chicago becomes involved in a case, the team is in for some changes!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or its character or Greg would have more air time! The character of Lena is mine as is the case and its details!

The airport was empty. Not exactly out of the ordinary for this time of day. Lena Rodriguez stepped off the freezing airline into the heat of Las Vegas' McCarran airport. The nearly four hour flight wasn't as pleasant as the airline had toted but she was simply happy to be leaving home behind for a few weeks. Stretching, she headed to the airport bathrooms were she was greeted with a gruesome sight.

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Gil Grissom received the call of a crime scene in McCarran airport near the end of the graveyard shift. He was not thrilled to say the least and neither were the members of his team that had been corralled into working the case. Warrick Brown and Catherine Willows were the unfortunate victims of Grissom's hunt. Together they made their way to the scene of the crime. The bathroom was roped off and an officer stood guard outside. Brass grimaced, knowing that Grissom was not going to be happy with what he would find. Before Brass could warn him, Grissom made his way under the tape and into the supposedly cleared bathroom to find a young woman kneeling over the dead body.

"You can't be here," he said exasperated as he motioned to Brass to come take her out. To his surprise, she simply turned to him and smiled.

"Actually, Mr. Grissom is it," she asked? "I already started processing this crime scene so if you wouldn't mind getting out of the way or lending me a hand." Grissom stood in shock as the rest of the team stood behind him unsure of what to make of this persistent young woman. She stood up, rolled up her sleeves and motioned to the team.

"Maybe we should take this outside so I can explain things without compromising this crime scene."

"Good idea," deadpanned Grissom as they made their way back under the tape and into the spacious hallway. Once there, the team turned to face the mysterious woman that had been standing in their crime scene.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing," demanded Warrick, tired from working a few too many late shifts.

"Alright, long story short, my name is Lena Rodriguez, and I am a CSI from Chicago. I was the one who found the body and put the call in. I figured since I had all the equipment I needed I would go ahead and get a start on processing the scene before any evidence was lost or contaminated. The bathrooms had just been cleaned it seemed and I didn't want any of the evidence to be contaminated by the cleaning detergents. Sorry for the shocker but it seemed the smart thing to do. The evidence is bagged and photographed." She looked from face to face. Standing shorter than the three member of the Las Vegas team, taking into consideration the heals that Catherine wore, she should have been intimidated, but as all three members saw, she was quite sure of herself. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun with pieces falling carelessly around her shoulders and straying across her tanned face. Her eyes gleamed a dark brown and stood fast on those of Grissom, awaiting his response. She looked frazzled and unkept in a pair of ripped blue jeans and a bright yellow polo shirt with what appeared to be soda spilled on it, a blue long sleeve shirt underneath the polo was in need of an iron. Her sandals completed the outfit with a seemingly taped together sole.

"Ok well we will have to take over for you because though you may work for the crime lab in Chicago, this is Las Vegas and we will have to take over jurisdiction. We do appreciate your assistance," stated Grissom. She shrugged.

"Well then I guess I better get going then," she said. "I'll just grab my stuff and be out of your way." She walked away, grabbing her small suitcase and heading down the hall towards the entrance. Grissom and team watched her go before heading into the bathroom to take a look at the crime scene. She was right. The camera sat on the side against the wall and evidence bags were carefully marked. The body showed no signs of being moved or being tampered with.

"Looks like she made our jobs a little easier tonight," stated Catherine as she searched through the evidence bags and found a wallet. "Cassidy Johansson, age 27."

"Doesn't seem to be traveling with anyone," stated Warrick examining her hands for any sign of a wedding or engagement ring.

"Looks like she was strangled while she was washing her hands," commented Grissom. The team continued to work on the scene for a few hours before heading back to the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Lena walked to the curb and hailed a cab. After giving the driver the directions she sat back and thought about what had just happened. She knew she should have waited until the Las Vegas team had shown up but she had noticed the smell of disinfectants and didn't want to risk loosing any evidence. She had most likely over stepped her bounds and would be hearing about it later from her overly strict boss, but she was on vacation and she had two weeks before she would need to hear from him. She sat back in the cab and watched the lights of Las Vegas blink around her.

It wasn't long before she came to her destination. The cab pulled up to a shabby looking apartment building and she paid the driver before heading up the crumbling staircase and into the forgotten building. She pulled out the piece of paper from her back pocket. 319. She headed up the staircase, dragging her too heavy suitcase behind her. The apartment was on the right, the last one. She knocked on the door and waited in the hallway until an older woman in her 70s let her in the door. So this is where I'm going to be staying, she thought as she surveyed the furniture that seemed to have come straight from the 70s. She followed the women to her room and fell asleep on the bed, not unpacking or undressing.

The light from the blinds signaled that once again she had over slept her alarm. Despite the late night she had planned on waking early in order to help around the house. She appreciated the fact that her ex's grandmother was kind enough to let her stay and wanted to do her share of the work in gratitude. She checked the digital clock next to the bed and saw that it was in fact nearly 2 in the afternoon and that she had slept four hours longer than she had actually planned. Opening the blinds, she turned to inspect the room. It was filled with pictures, most of them of her ex, Jason, she turned away and began to unpack her clothes. As she was filling her drawers, she came upon an evidence bag. 'Must of fallen out of my pocket or something. One more errand to run.' Grabbing the bag she headed out into the main area and found Lydia in the kitchen.

"Will you be eating here tonight," she asked. "I was having some ladies over from my book club and we were going to be having a get together and you are welcome to come and join us."

"Thanks for the offer but I have some errands to run and I can just grab some food while I'm out. I shouldn't be out that late." Lena grabbed her purse and headed towards the door, not wanting to hear what came next.

"I am so sorry for what happened Lena dear, I loved him too but I wasn't as close as you two were. I can't imagine loosing someone at your age." With that Lena slipped out the door, hoping that the absence of tears wouldn't be noticed.

Greg Sanders slowly make his way through out the halls of the crime lab. The graveyard shift didn't start for another hour and the days shift was slowly filtering out as their cases were being closed. He made his way into the lab, ready to get a start on the large load of evidence that was left for him so that we could make his way into the field today. With a sigh he sat at his station and dove into his work.

"Is Mr. Grissom in," asked Lena at the front desk of the Crime Lab? The receptionist glanced up from her computer.

"He should be coming in soon. If you like you can wait in his office. It's down the hall and to the right." Lena smiled and followed the receptionist's directions. A loud noise caught her attention. Her curiosity caught up with her and she headed in the direction of the noise. Turning around the corner she saw a young man with spiky hair spinning around in a lab chair, jamming to the music. She had to repress a laugh as she walked through the glass doors. Turning to the stereo she turned the volume off and came to face the young lab tech, who stopped suddenly, realizing that his music was no longer playing.

"Who might you be," he questioned? She smiled.

"Well my name is Lena but that really doesn't matter. I was just looking for Grissom's office when I heard the music and thought I would come over." The lab tech smiled at her and she noticed that he had really gorgeous brown eyes.

"Well I'm Greg Sanders, resident lab rat and hopeful CSI. You are on the way to Grissom's office. Just take a right and then keep going. You can't miss it; he's the only one who has insects all over his office." He pulled at his blue lab coat and she could see the edges of a brightly colored polo shirt. She smiled and turned to leave.

"Well it was nice to meet you," said Greg. She turned and flashed her most sultry smile.

"Yes it was." She headed out the door and turned down the hall, nearly running right into Gil Grissom


	3. Chapter 3

"_But Lena it was an accident. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you." Lena turned to face Jason. _

"_If you never meant to hurt me you would never have done that. I can't believe you. How can you say it was an accident? Having sex with my best friend is not an accident. How dare you even try to play this off as some small thing that I can just get over?" She glared at him while she gathered her things into her purse. He looked at her with his puppy eyes pleading with her. Gathering her courage she stood up and turned away._

"_I'm leaving. It's over and I don't want you to call me or even try to get back together. I can't handle that. Goodbye." And with that she disappeared out the door. Anger filled her as she saw her friend sitting on the front porch, where she had moved once Lena had walked in on them. She looked as if she was going to get up and try and explain things but was silenced when Lena waved her off with her hand._

"_Don't even bother Cassy. I can't believe you would do this. I don't even want to look at you right now." Lena ignored her friend's pleas and got into her car and drove off, radio blaring and tears pouring out her eyes, blurring her vision. She continued to drive around Chicago, no destination in mind, simply dreading returning to her empty apartment._

"Oh sorry Mr. Grissom, I was actually just looking for you so I guess this is quite the coincidence," Lena stammered as she steadied herself.

"Oh OK then well let's go into my office and we can talk but I have to let you know that my shift is starting and I can't talk for too long." With that Grissom led the way to his office, Lena in his wake, in awe at his extensive bug collection. Grissom motioned her to take a seat before sitting down himself.

"Interesting collection. Not sure I would want all that in my office but I can see you really enjoy those critters," said Lena as she took her seat across from Grissom. She reached into her purse in search of the evidence bag.

"I realized that I had brought this with me so I though I should bring it over ASAP." She finally found what she was looking for and handed it over the Grissom. Grissom looked it over examining it.

"I didn't contaminate or anything if that is what you are wondering," said Lena defensively. "I'm a CSI. I would never do that."

"I didn't say anything," said Grissom, placing the bag on his desk. "I was just thinking. We have had two previous assaults in the airport. We think that it's the work of a serial killer. I realize that you're here on a vacation but I was wondering if you would be interested in helping us with the investigation. If you don't want to it really isn't a problem but we are short on hands and could use the extra help." Grissom looked at the young woman in front of him. She looked different than he had last seen her. He hadn't quite recognized her when she had run into him before in the hallway. Her hair fell in waves around her shoulders and her wrinkled and dirty clothing had been replaced with a pair of white gaucho pants, a blue polo shirt and a blue jean blazer. Two long strands of pearls and a pair of blue flip-flops rounded out the attire. She looked refreshed and he noticed how attractive she actually was.

"Mr. Grissom I appreciate the offer. But what exactly would you have me doing. I mean are you going to be putting me to work in the lab or have me working as a CSI." She questioned, surprised that he had offered her this opportunity.

"Well, I actually have a few too many people in the lab now and a few of my CSI's are out on assignment so I would need you out in the field," explained Grissom thinking of how Nick and Sarah where out working in a case in the far outskirts of town. The team was stretched thin and a new case had come up so he would need to divide even further.

"Well in that case I would be pleased to help you out with the case," she said, "but I um don't really have anything with me. I hadn't really planned for this."

"Don't worry about that. I know most of the CSI's have extra equipment. You can just buddy up today. If you don't mind, I'd like to put you with Greg Sanders."


	4. Chapter 4

_She walked into her apartment to the beeping of her answering machine. Tossing aside her bag she pressed the play button and walked into the kitchen to make some food. _

"_Lena…" Came a shaky voice from the machine. "Lena this is Cassy. I know you don't want to talk to me but umm….I thought I should be the one to call you. Umm…I don't know how to say this." A long pause ensued with sobs being heard in the background. By this time Lena was standing over the answering machine, waiting for the rest of the message. Finally Cassy was able to control her sobs and continue._

"_Lena, Jason is in the hospital. He was in a car accident. They don't think he's going to make it. Oh god Lena. I am so sorry. Please come down to the hospital. I know you are mad at me and you have every right to be. But I need you. Please Lena." Cassy's voice was soft now and shaky as if she was still crying. Lena collapsed on the couch, her head swarming with conflicting emotions. Jason had slept with her best friend, but they had been dating for the past few months. She hated him and loved him at the same time and however she was angry at Cassy; she knew that she needed to be with her at the hospital. Lena had always been the mother figure in their circle of friends, and as we all know a mother never abandons a child in need. She grabbed her keys and headed out the door, not bothering to listen to the other messages._

Grissom led the way to the break room, small glass enclosed room in the center of the lab. Lena followed behind, making a mental note of the rooms around her so she could make her way around in the future. Before she knew it she was standing awkwardly in the door to the break room, as Grissom was standing on the other side of the room, his team filling the chairs around the table.

"Warrick, Catherine, Greg, this is Lena Rodriguez. I know some of you already met her, but she is going to be working with us. Nick and Sarah are still on assignment and we have another case. We're stretched thin and could use the help." Lena sat down in the chair next to Greg and gave him a smile before turning to face the others.

"Catherine and Warrick correct," she said, extending a hand. "I realize we met last night but we really didn't get off to the right start." Warrick and Catherine smiled.

"Sorry to cut this short but we need to get to work," interjected Grissom. "Catherine, Warrick, you guys have a domestic disturbance call. Responding police officers found a dead body. Greg and Lena, you guys are with me on the airport case. Greg you and Lena are going to buddy up." With that Warrick and Catherine headed out to their case.

"Well, looks like we'll be seeing a little more of each other," stated Greg as he stood up to go to the layout room.

"If I had known I would have gotten all dressed up for you," said Lena before following Grissom out the door, leaving a very smiley Greg in her wake.

"So you work in Chicago," asked Greg as he and Lena worked on piecing together a letter that had been found in pieces in the airport bathroom garbage.

"That would be correct, Greg. I came all the way from the Windy City." Lena smiled as she found a corner piece. The letter was beginning to come together.

"So umm, what brings you all the way to Las Vegas? If you don't mind me asking." Greg turned to look at her. She turned to face him, her brown hair falling over her face. She pulled her hair behind her ear, smiled and turned back to the table.

"Well, let's just say I needed to take a break and get out of town." Greg knew not to push the matter further. They went back to working in silence and before they knew it, they had put the last piece into place.

**I told you I would find you.**

**You can't run from me. **

**Hide and Seek **

**I see you!**


End file.
